Discoveries Part 2

Posted on Sat Aug 14th, 2021 @ 8:13am by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & E.D.E.N & Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D. & Petty Officer, 3rd Class Annikafiore Szerda

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: The Caelestis - Deck 23 Aft end
Timeline: Day 168 09:30
4294 words - 8.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth frowned as they wandered around deck 23. The ship was so huge that they could wander for days and days without seeing it all but Beth was determined. She wanted to find what was going on in this ship and if in fact the AI was the culprit of Aurelius’ murder. It had not been seen since the night before but it did not mean that it was not there waiting for them to attempt again. It was why everyone had a weapon and armoury or MACO vests on.

The corridor was long and the windows were scattered here and there around the walls in fairly symmetrical patterns signifying that they were on the side of the ship that the Captain had requested to be able to see out earlier in the day. “This is the corridor I saw from outside earlier that led to the area where everything was turned off.” Beth revealed.

When she heard Beth's voice, Petty Officer Annikafiore Szerda was reminded of the whole universe around her. She wasn't sure how long she had been following along --maybe twenty seconds or maybe twenty minutes-- while she had been staring at the screen of her hand-scanner as if it was the only planet in her orbit. This alien vessel was so much easier to understand as isolated sensor readings within designated measurements and scales. Drinking in the sheer scale of the Caelestis with her analog eyes (not to mention the recent events aboard the ghost ship) was far far too overwhelming for her nervous system. Given her choice, Annikafiore would choose the waveform reality any day. ...Apparently, the armoury refresher she'd been given on situational awareness hadn't been terribly effective at changing her behaviours. Idly, Annikafiore touched the phase pistol holstered on her hip, making sure it was still there. She had muscle memory from that training, at least.

"You're right, Captain," reported Annikafiore in her clipped, Scandanavian-sounding lilt. "The low frequency EM radiation we pick up from their energy distribution system is almost non-existent through there." Annikafiore raised her index finger towards the direction where the Captain was leading the team.

Beth nodded at the sudden answer from the Engineer. She had forgotten the woman was behind them as silent as she had been the trip over and the walk along the corridor. She had scanned from outside but nothing compared to being able to scan it into side the ship and as close as they were going to get. "I think it is still there just shielded." Beth finally admitted.

"Why shield the area, unless the ship or whoever has something to hide," Maddison asked, taking a look over her shoulder as they proceeded down the corridor. She hated this ship--it was unnerving, she felt like she was being watched. In her right hand, she held her phase pistol at her side, ready to level and fire without taking the precious time needed to draw the weapon from its holster.

Avira was looking over the barrel of her Andorian plasma rifle, her antennae twitched to keep tabs on her surroundings as they proceeded down the hallway. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are great swathes of this ship that are concealed from us." The bigger question was still who made the ship in the first place and why that sort of technology would even be a part of the design at all. "Let's get to the bottom of this."

"This ship is unlike anything we have seen before nothing surprises me anymore about it," Beth commented as she started to think through the facts and questions they had. The emergency engagement program was activated so some type of emergency had happened? Where were all the people that the ship was meant to house? Someone was onboard - so who was this person and why had they resorted to killing Aurelius instead of running like previous times? There were just too many odd things happening to not investigate it. Beth could never pass up a mystery.

"It would be nice to know where this ship came from," Maddison commented as they continued down the corridor.

Beth nodded as they came to the end of the corridor or at least what was supposedly the end of the corridor but looking out the window it was easy to see that the ship went on for a lot longer for where the Atlantis was docked alongside. Beth had made a point when she had gotten Samantha and Elsbeth to take her for a flyover specifically to map and plan. "So this is what the ship says is the end of the road but it's not. There is a lot of space inside there." Beth said starting to look around the dead end for a way inside.

As if sensing an intruder EDEN appeared in front of Beth making the woman jump back in surprise. "As there you are. I gather things have gotten a little out of hand."

"You could say that. You've been absent a lot lately. Care to explain who killed one of our crew?" Maddison spoke, taking a step forward next to Beth.

EDEN flickered for a moment as the question was asked before establishing herself again. "I hate it when she does that," Beth murmured to herself. She was noticing that it was when a question was asked that EDEN or someone who was controlling her did not like.

"My programming with not allow me to go against The Foundation or an employee of The Foundation," EDEN commented.

"What is The Foundation?" Beth demanded.

"Most frequently ‘foundation’ or ‘trust’ is used to describe charities with private, independent and sustainable income that fulfil their purposes by funding or otherwise supporting individuals or other organisations," EDEN replied as if she had swallowed an encyclopedia.

"No your foundation," Beth demanded looking at everyone else confused. "What does it do?"

"The Foundation was set up to find a new home for what is left of life." EDEN finally admitted making Beth raise an eyebrow at her answer.

Maddison raised an eyebrow at the answer. "Find a new home? For this Foundation? So you're transporting these people then. Where are they?" She had a good idea about where these people were located with the area ahead being shielded against sensors.

Having reached a different conclusion in her head, Annikafiore felt a flush of heat rise to her face as her blood pressure rose. The imaginings in her mind caused a stress reaction, wondering if this ship had been launched generations ago, singing out its distress call for epochs unknown. Without thinking, Annikafiore worriedly blurted out, "Maybe they're all dead...?"

Beth glanced at all the people with her a moment. She knew which one she preferred over the other but she was inclined to think that the Petty Officer might be correct. There was literally no sign that anywhere had been used. EDEN looked at the Engineer and thought about what she said for a moment before she nodded. “You might be right their Petty Officer.” She said blinking away again a few times before disappearing completely.

“Well that was not ominous at all,” Beth said shivering as she looked at where a wall was. “Look for a way in as I refuse to believe that this is just a dead end. There is 100’s of more meters and this is the only way through unless someone is using tubes to move around that area beyond but it cannot be logical.” The Captain wanted to end this that day if they could.

Maddison looked at the bulkhead in front of them, placing her hand on the wall, not feeling any groves or even plate welds. There had to be a door but yet, she didn't see one. "I have an idea, ma'am," she said, turning to the Captain. "If I overload my phase pistol, it could be enough to blow a hole in this bulkhead."

The interactions with the A.I. were infuriating, Avira her antennae stood straight up on her head. It reminded her that she had to get back to the medical bay on the vessel to get her test results back. That was of secondary importance, first, they needed to find out what lay beyond the area of the ship that had been made available to them. The overloading of the phase pistol seemed like as good an idea as any, "would that create a hole big enough for us to get through?" She was a bit rusty on her demolitions knowledge.

“Use mine and we need to hope so as it’s the only option Warrant Officer. The ship does not have anything like that easily on hand.” Beth ordered passing her phase pistol over. She would feel even less comfortable if the woman did not have a weapon instead of her.

Maddison nodded, holstering her own phase pistol and took the Captain's phase pistol into her hands. She opened the chamber, crossing the phase inducer coils as she did so and activated the energy cell upon closing the chamber. The phase pistol began to emit a humming noise that slowly began to grow in intensity. "Let's get back!" Maddison said upon placing the phaser on the deck at the base of the bulkhead.

Annikafiore sneered at the unpleasant whine emitting from the phase pistol, and especially all the danger it represented. Pivoting on her heel, Annikafiore muttered, "Oh, forreal, for real," at how quickly that plan had turned into action. She broke into a sprint, running away from the phase pistol. To her relief, all of her muscle memory from the STC track team continued to live in her body and she put it to great use. As the humming of her phase pistol became intense, Annikafiore dropped to the deck. Instinctively, she protected her satchel of tools with her body, beneath her.

As Maddison got several feet away, the noise from the overloading phase pistol continued to grow until an ear-splitting explosion erupted. The heat could be felt on her back as she dropped to the deck in the prone position. "Everyone ok?" she asked, as she got back up to her feet, instinctively drawing her phase pistol. She hated overloading a pistol because doing so was always a gamble in the results.

"Yes. Perfectly fine Warrant Officer." Beth had crouched when the explosion had happened, covering her face but now in the near silence corridor. As she stood she had a sudden thought she was not sure how she was going to explain about the phase pistol but it was what it was. It had served a purpose and there was now a hole in the wall big enough for them all to climb through. "Well, it certainly worked." Beth realised looking at the group as they all stared at the hole and what could lie beyond it.

After letting out the breath she had been holding, Annikafiore checked each of her limbs as she found her way back to her feet. "Aye, sir," Annikafiore reported, and she double checked the self-diagnostics on her environmental suit, which told her there were no tears in its skin. Unsure what to expect next, she dropped her scanner into her satchel and wrapped both her hands around the grip of her own phase pistol.

Avira stepped up to the hole. It was big enough to crouch through. There was a lot more power in those phaser pistols than the Imperial Guard had given them credit for. She had her rifle on her shoulder peering through the hole to the other side, "cover my six." she didn't wait too long for protestations. They probably wouldn't want their medic to go through first, but in her mind, she was the most qualified soldier in the group so it made sense for her to step through first.

Beth opened her mouth to argue but the woman was already through the hole and Beth was following as she could not cover anyone six without a weapon. She quickly stood up and frowned at the darkness that greeted them. She could feel it was a wide-open space but there was barely anything out there to illuminate anything other than every few feet of a red circle light.

Bringing up the rear, Maddison stood up from the hole in the bulkhead. Her eyes went to the red lights every few feet. Being in the dark didn't make her feel any more at ease. "Now to find the light switch," she commented. Feeling out, her hand came into contact with what appeared to be a railing.

Avira stepped to the side away from the red lights and stayed crouched in the corner, "get out of the light, they'll be able to see your contours," her antennae twitched and 'scanned' the environment for any movement, changes in temperature, air pressure. Shifting slightly away from her last position after she had talked.

A strange language rang out from above that sounded to Beth like it was a mixture of everything that she had ever learnt about languages in one phrase. As the words disappeared the light blinked on in stages, first the deck they were on and then continued up revealing that it was a large open space filled with thousands upon thousands of cryogenic storage tubes. Their screens were frosted and Beth was reluctant to get close to see inside as red lights never meant anything good. She was starting to connect the dots and it was not looking good for the Foundation. "How many do you think there are?" Beth demanded in a soft voice as she looked everywhere trying to take it all in.

In awe of the number of pods, Maddison shook her head slightly. "Maybe a thousand?" She leaned over a nearby pod, wiping away the frost on the window that showed a sickly pale humanoid figure within dressed in a white jumpsuit. "This guy didn't make it," she commented at the cryopod that had power cut from it as no monitors or sounds of machines running could be heard or felt on the pod.

Beth pointed along the level they were on and shook her head, there were way more than a thousand. "I do not think anyone survived Warrant Officer," Beth commented looking at all the red lights. "Let's go further in." She prompted finding her mouth dry as she tried to process what she was seeing.

Annikafiore tilted her head back to take in the sheer scope of cryogenic storage tubes, positioned in rings around and above them. Despite her curiosity, waves of dread inspired her to look back over her shoulder ever twenty seconds or so, looking to see if any of the tubes were about to open spontaneously. She continued to move close by Beth's side, as she strode further into the cavernous chamber. Without even thinking about it, Annikafiore sighed, "I don't even go to funerals..."

Beth nodded at the engineer. She could not help but notice that the woman was keeping very close to her suddenly. Maybe it was the concern that she no longer had a weapon like everyone else if something went wrong or the fact that she thought she needed to protect the Captain in general but Beth offered a small smile and nodded appreciatively.

“I’ve only ever been to one funeral and that was not one that I really wanted to go to.” Beth had not wanted to go to her husbands funeral but it seemed it would help the healing process. This just seemed like a waste of life. Everything had been assured for their survival but something had gone wrong.

Maddison only nodded solemnly as she recalled losing her fiancé in the Xindi attack on Earth. There hadn't been any trace of him left--completely vaporized as he had been caught in the Xindi weapon's direct path. Which to her was worse as she remembered feeling he was still alive somewhere since there was nobody.

Just one funeral seemed like someone that had led a very protected life. Avira had attended dozens, with quite a few of those being buried her comrades in arms that died in her arms as she was unable to save them in the field. With the medical bay at her disposal on back the Atlantis the odds were a lot better of saving them, compared to being huddled in a desert cave with nothing but a first aid kit and some local plantlife to help.

It was like a sudden sense of doom hit Beth as she turned and spotted a figure across the ring from them. It was a man that Beth knew she had never seen before. Silver, short hair slightly revealed a skinny face and bright white eyes that were filled with surprise at being noticed. He wore the same type of outfits that the people inside the units wore but his was worn out and covered in blood. "Guys." She said indicating the man who was just as stunned as they were.

Spotting the man and what appeared to be blood on his uniform, Maddison thumbed a switch on her phase pistol to switch it to stun and fired at the figure, not giving him a chance to recover. If her aim was true, they could have plenty of time to talk after being stunned.

"We do not shoot first." Beth hissed as the man hit the deck across from them leaving them in a weird situation of which path to weave around to him.

Maddison turned to the captain. "With all due respect, Captain but that person has what appears to be blood on them, running and hiding from us and we're decades away from the nearest Starfleet reinforcements. Shooting first in this situation is safest."

"It is never the answer. The man looked just as shocked as us to see us." Beth snapped indicating the direction they were going to loop around to where the man had disappeared from view too. Moving around the ring Beth silently to where the man had gone left her feeling like they were in a time warp as it seemed to take forever to get around to the location to find nothing. "This was where you stunned his right? Has to be that is where we were stood." She demanded looking back to where they had been stood where one of the statis units was wiped across the only thing that was different to reassure the Captain that they had been stood there.

Her head on a pivot, Annikafiore quickly eyed the compartment on all sides of her and it sent her curly red ponytail swinging from side to side. "I know I'd go hiding if I woke up to armed burglars in my house," Annikafiore remarked, thinking out loud. "Even if I was asleep."

"Well, we're lucky he's like you then, and not like me," Avira had been too late in turning and shooting herself, having been faced the other way. Her Andorian plasma rifle didn't have a stun setting, so the man, whoever it was, had been lucky as well.

"Could not have gone far," Beth murmured looking down the rows as she tried to make sense of what had happened. She was useless defending themselves but she could keep lookout.

"I used stun and we saw him go down, there is no way someone could recover that fast," Maddison stated as she searched the area for any signs of where the man went to.

Joining in the search for the mystery man, Annikafiore referred to her hand-scanner. She tapped on its controls, shifting the priority of its search towards biosigns rather than photonics and other mechanical sources of energy. Not finding any signs of life as the knew it, Annikafiore proposed, "Their nervous systems may have evolved entirely unlike our own, I suppose."

“He looked vaguely humanoid.” Beth surmised as she kept thinking on the man so she could create something on the computer later with his image. She frowned as she suddenly felt light-headed and blinked away the heady feeling. "Anyone else feel lightheaded?" She wondered feeling alarmed suddenly that something was not right with the environmental controls.

Having not wanting to say anything previously, Maddison nodded. "Feeling the same. We should get out of here fast."

"I thought it was just me," Annikafiore replied with a quick shake of her head.

“It’s not. Back the way we came now.” Beth said taking slow steady breaths as she pulled out her communicator. “Leroux to Atlantis.” She called but the communicator did nothing. “Move quicker.” She kept it open though as she moved the power signature of a Starfleet communicator be detectable by the sensors from the ship.

Avira frowned, her antennae darting around trying to get a sense of the environment. She wasn't feeling lightheaded, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything there. She quickly followed the others in the direction where they came from, bringing up the rear making sure the mystery person didn't take this opportunity to jump them from behind. Her vision was starting to get blurry, "whatever it is, it has started to affect me as well."

Beth looked at the scanner on her wrist and shook her head as she could not focus. "There is a gas in the air that was not here before. I do not understand the readings but it has to be the cause of us not being able.... to focus." She said stopping for a second holding on to one of the statis units.

"That's aggressive, Captain," Annikafiore blurted out. Racing to keep up with Beth, Annikafiore pumped her arms, hoping the flailing would inch her body forward even faster than her legs would take her. Spending most of her days belowdecks hadn't given Annikafiore much reason to practice her social filters -- and the woozy effects of the gas were hitting her all the more. "Even Starfleet Command would call that aggressive," she added. Casting a wicked glance at Walker, Annikafiore asserted, "I think it's okay to stun them now."

"I am not sure what... the stun setting would do now though as we all saw him hit," Beth muttered looking at Annikafiore for a moment before she looked forward to where they were going. She blinked struggling more and more by second as she saw out of the corner of her eye the figure appear but this time he had a mask over his face just behind the group. "Run." She said knowing that her legs would struggle to propel her for much longer. It was a scary situation to be in when she knew if she closed her eyes she would be at the white-haired man's mercy until the other team could rescue them hopefully.

Despite Beth's protestations, Annikafiore's legs weren't working as fast as she wanted them to go. Her strides were getting shorter and shorter with each step, and her left leg was feeling weaker than her right. It was starting to feel like a nightmare, when running through open space starts to feel like swimming through molasses. Before she knew it, she wasn't quite keeping up with the others, and her running was hiccuped by a new limp.

Avira didn't see anything but could swear that she sensed someone move in a darkened corner, she spun and shot, the plasma slug digging into one of the out of commission stasis pods. She had been moving steadily towards the hole in the wall and saw others falling behind, "Less talking, more moving, soldiers!" She bellowed, her voice cascading off the metal and glass that filled the room. She considered getting closer to the ground to avoid the gas but as she crouched down she almost immediately lost her balance. Perhaps the gas was being pumped in from the floor.

Maddison blinked and shook her head. She saw Petty Officer Szerda begin to fall behind as she slowed her pace. "Come on...keep up. We're almost...there." She was mentally forcing herself to put one leg in front of the other as the light from the hole of the bulkhead loomed closer with its blinding white light.

Beth realised that not all of them were going to get out. They needed to split up to give them all a chance. She needed to make that choice. “I need you guys to go. I am giving you a direct order to run and go and get help.” Beth ordered glancing back at Szerda knowing the woman was not in a much better state than Beth. They had no choice.

For a moment Avira considered if she could get away with saying she didn't hear the order. Instead, she grabbed onto the nearest person to her and picked up the pace, dragging them along, "you heard the commander, no dragging your feet". The floor was warping in front of her as she tried to focus on the singular point of the hole in the wall. That's where she hoped their safety was. She didn't want to look back, knowing it would be an image that would haunt her for the rest of her life if the gas turned out to be lethal and she was just leaving her Commander behind to die.

Maddison fought the instinct to turn back as Avira dragged her along. She couldn't leave the captain or anyone for that matter behind. A moment that seemed like an eternity to her, she and Avira emerged back through the hole in the bulkhead. Maddison blinked as she stumbled into the opposite bulkhead. 'We'll come back for you, Captain,' she thought, closing her eyes as she leaned on the bulkhead for support.